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LBJ accepts the vice presidential nomination from the Democrats in Los Angeles, California, July 14, 1960. Beside him are his daughter, Luci, and wife, Lady Bird.
AP Photo

The Democratic race isn’t even formally over, but the political media establishment has already moved on to the next stage.

With word leaking last week about Barack Obama’s choice of a vetter and a closely scrutinized weekend visit to John McCain’s ranch by three potential running mates, the veepstakes and all its breathless speculation is front and center.

Never mind that the select few who know the most about an uber-secretive process usually say the least.

"There is a political-industrial complex around covering the election that is exponentially bigger, hungrier and with more mouths to feed this cycle,” observes Democratic strategist Michael Feldman, a veteran of former Vice President Al Gore’s 2000 campaign, noting the growth of political coverage on cable news and the Internet.

So for the next few months untold barrels of ink, TV hours and Internet bandwidth will be filled with in-depth analysis that revolves around a central question: “So, whaddya think?”

“The VP story is a little bit like sex,” observes Tucker Carlson, the writer and NBC political analyst who falls into the skeptic column. “When it’s happening, you’re totally focused on it, it’s all you want. Then, the second it’s over, you can barely remember why it seemed so important.”

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It’s a quadrennial political ritual, a protracted and obsessive mulling of who will be tapped for the No. 2 slot on the presidential ticket. Still, for all the reasons to dismiss the custom, the vagaries of the 2008 election offer some reason to believe the inordinate attention may actually be merited this year.

The likely party nominees, McCain and Obama, are distinctive candidates saddled with unique vulnerabilities. With volatile political dynamics at work at the end of the Bush presidency, heightened attention on surrogates and the strong pull of history affecting the contest, the veepstakes could shape up as something much more than a temporary summer diversion before the conventions.

William Kristol, Vice President Dan Quayle’s former chief of staff, makes the case for why this time is different.

“We haven’t had a nominee as old as McCain and we haven’t had a nominee as inexperienced as Obama,” notes Kristol, the editor of the Weekly Standard.

The vice presidential selections made by McCain and Obama will also be watched closely because they will start to answer questions about each candidate.

Will McCain, who turns 72 in August, choose somebody who will be groomed for succession in either 2012 or 2016? And should the sometime-maverick attempt to mirror Bill Clinton’s 1992 gambit of picking a candidate who underlines his attributes, rather than choosing a more conventional conservative to balance the ticket?

“He’s got a delicate task,” says Kristol of McCain. “He doesn’t want a VP pick that drags him down to the generic [Republican polling] number. On the other hand, he can’t have his entire base up in arms.”

For Obama, his selection will fill in the blanks as to what sort of campaign he’d like to pursue. Is it the Dukakis model, reaching for a gray eminence who will be more solid than spectacular? And which of his themes — change or post-partisanship — will matter more in an Obama White House? His No. 2 man (or woman) could offer valuable clues about the thinking of a politician who is still barely known to many American voters.

“Voters are very anxious to find out more about Obama,” says Democratic strategist and former Kerry adviser Tad Devine. “His choice will offer great insight.”

“Because Sen. Obama is such a fresh face, and so new to the scene, for those reasons people will be looking to see who will be serving with him,” adds another top Democrat.

Moreover, after Vice President Dick Cheney’s hands-on role in the Bush White House, more attention than ever will be paid to the choice — and few ego-driven politicians will be willing to settle for a role attending funerals of foreign leaders and banishment to the backwater of the Old Executive Office Building.

“What’s the guy going to say now — I want to go back to when it was as worthless as ‘a warm bucket of spit?’” quips Mary Matalin, a former top Cheney aide paying homage to the PG version of John Nance Garner’s famous formulation.

What most all political observers and operatives agree on now is that the traditional notion of what makes the veep pick important has become antiquated.

" Breathless speculation marks veepstakes " , Mr Martin ? Really ? The only excitement I foresee is when John McCain officially names Mitt Romney his running mate . A certain respondent from Sunny , Arizona , will have to explain why Romney is not a cultist after calling his religion cultist for almost a year . As for the Democrats , it is up to Hillary Clinton ? If Senator Obama wins the nomination , he needs her on the ballot . David Axelrod looks like he needs to take time off and visit a fat farm , soo it will work out .

I do find it funny that McCain's probably gonna have to pick Romney (who's a disaster and polls horribly, but don't tell the Republicnas) and Huckabee (who is not popular outside of the South and won't get a single swing state) because the Republican right keeps yankin on McCain's chain. Either that or that bore Rob Portman. Bobby Jindal or Sarah Palin would be best, but McCain won't pick either one. He's not as maverick as he claims. On the Democratic side Kathleen Sebelius is the best governor in America, but unfortunately isn't established enough. Obama will pick Warner, Webb, Ted Strickland (for Ohio) or Wes Clark (to appease the Clinton supporters.) All passable choices (although I'm not a big Clark fan.)

“We’ve not had a post-Reagan definition and they’ve not had a post-FDR definition,” noted Matalin

TeamPolitico: May. 28, 2008 - 4:47 AM EST

“The VP story is a little bit like sex,” observes Tucker Carlson, the writer and NBC political analyst who falls into the skeptic column. “When it’s happening you’re totally focused on it, it’s all you want. Then, the second it’s over you can barely remember why it seemed so important.”

That statement told us much more than we needed to know about Chatsworth Osborne Jr.'s (as Rush calls him) sex life!

Mary Matalin is very shrewd, but I disagree with her analysis here. GWB did indeed redefine Reaganism and Clinton redefined FDR. So really what we are talking about here is a post-Bush definition and a post-Clinton definition, presuming Hillary is not the nominee!

Hillary probably has to offer VP to an African-American or Hispanic when Obama turns her down at the convention. My favorite is Philidelphia mayor Michael Nutter, even thought Rendell deserves credit too.

I have seen Polls by Zogby....whom although he is a dedicated Obama Supporter, did have the most objective, most honest, least agenda driven polls out there during the Immgration Wars.

Those Polls reflect the Obvious.....When the Libertarian Candidate is factored in...and Ralph Nader....McCain goes down to 31% or 32%.

And I think the Republican National Committee has been to the well once two many times in telling conservatives and evangelicals that a Democrat would be worse than McCain...like they did with Bush and Bush..so they HAVE to vote for McCain.

No. We Don't. McCain is a Democrat. Nothing is worse than a Man who seizes a poltical party, with views and positions he openly mocks and despises, and rides to Personal Fame and Poweron the money people who hold conservative views have donated to that Party.

He can't make it with the Real Democratic Party............so he is 'redefining" the Republican Party into a Clone of the Party who could not buy an election for the last fifty years....and Clinton was a Gift from Ross Perot. Clinton received 42% of the vote in 1992.

The Democratic race isn’t even formally done, but the politico-media establishment has already moved on to the next stage.

THE WEAPONS THE REPUBLICAN PARTY HAS...BUT CANNOT USE...BECAUSE JOHN MCCAIN MAKES EUNCHS OUT OF ALL OF THEM .....................................ON AN ISSUE CLOSE TO THE HEARTS OF 95% OF ALL AMERICANS .............LEGAL IMMIGRANTS.....................EVEN MOST ILLEGAL ALIENS.In poll after poll.......the American People and the people who live in the USA...wish to see English as the official language. The language of the Government of the USA as it has been for five hundred years.

The Democratic Leadership..which apparentlyis Nancy Pelsoi and the Hispanic Caucus....is KILLING SIX BILLS THAT WOULD DO THAT.

1. H.R. 997, Enlish Language Unity Act of 2007. This Bill makes English the Official language of the USA. It is bi-partisan, it has 147 co-sponsors.

2. H.R. 769 National Language ACt of 2007. This offical English Bill also repeals Bilingual Ballots. It is a bi-partisan bill with 63 co-sponors.

3. H.R. S 1335 S.I. Hayakawa Official English Language ACto fo 2007. This companion bill to H.R, 769 is a SENATE bill. It has 8 co-sponsors.

4. H.R. 4464 Common Sense English Act. This Bill protects the right of employers to have English language workplace rules. It currently has 106 co-sponsors in the House.

5. S 2453 Protecting English in the Workplace Act. This is a companion bill to H.R. 4464. This is the Bill that Joe Bacca, Chair of the Hispanic Caucus, was overhead yelling ugly insults at Steny Hoyer by Reporters and it is alleged that he cursed The English Language. It was a big deal. Easily Googled. Of course the Main Stream Media gave Bacca a pass...he was on the right side for them...Anti USA for everything except the tax money he can suck to support 'immigrant rights groups."

6. S 2719... A BILL TO REPEAL EXECUTIVE ORDER 13166, ISSUED BY PRES. WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON IN 1998. THIS EXECUTIVE ORDER OF CLINTON'S CREATED AN ENTITLEMENT TO FEDERALL FUNDED SERVICES IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES....ANY LANGUAGE ANY FOREIGNER DEMANDED.....YOU PAID AND PAY FOR THE TRANSLATOR. This is one bill that should passed right now. and it would be if the Republicans would let the public know it is out there....the Democrats are sitting on them.

ONE POLTICAL ADD.........WITH ALL OF THOSE BILLS LISTED....AND A NARRATOR POINTING OUT THAT THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS KILLING EVERY ONE OF THOSE BILLS.....THAT THEY APPARENTLY CONSIDER USING THE ENLISH LANGUAGE TO BE RACIST AND ANTI 'IMMIGRANT'

The Republicans could win every state in the Union on That issue. But they won't. They will let McCain and his whacked our entourage hand the election to Peloi and the Real Hard Left.

McCAin never won a majority in any primary vote. It is not written in granite that he must be the Nominee for the Republican Party. Mitt Romney........................................He would have long Coat tails.............a lot of Republicans could ride them to victory.

I honestly cannot see where the Republican Party owes John McCain the time of day.

You pundits are just lookingfor a new story line every day....none of you know who these guys will chose, and you should not know..it should be a personal choice, someone they can feel comfortable with.... As for Tucker saying chosing a VP is like sex after it is done you forget it....that tells you a lot about this freak show wing nut!!! Republicans think sex is taboo!!! No wonder, it is a chore for him...

Yes that vaunted Clinton-Nutter ticket can't be beat. Won't even go into the wordplay on that one or the notion that even in this parallel universe where Hillary Clinton has won the nomination that exists only in her mind and the imagination of her supporters she could ever afford to put anyone other than Obama on the ticket. Clinton-Nutter. Gotta remember that one. I think there are some who would argue this, of course, is more of the status quo and pretty much goes without saying. Trying to hold back the laughter.

I wonder if Hillary Clinton will be pressured to take Barry as her running mate, just to guarantee the Democrats the Black vote?

I wonder?

I think Blacks vote Democrat no matter what....since the 1960's.

On the other hand, maybe Barry would be a good VP and could get some foreign policy experience. Then he could learn more about his family tree and make less gaffes when speaking in public and pandering for the Jewish vote.

Maybe someone should post a picture of Barry sitting in a tank as he liberates Auschwitz under sniper fire!!!